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Venice working to allow dogs at more parks

Local residents Steve and Claire Gordon with their dogs (Oliver, an 18-month-old male cocker spaniel, and Bella, a 3-year-old female Brittany) and Sue and Mark Lieberman with their dog (Ryley, a 2-year-old male boxer mix) frequently enjoy Brohard Paw Park. They support allowing dogs in more parks in Venice.

And local and visiting pet owners, anxious to take their four-legged buddies for a walk in those parks, could not be happier.

The City Council today will consider a proposal to allow dogs in more than 20 designated public parks and recreation areas.

“We're all for it,” local resident Sue Lieberman said as she supervised Ryley, her boxer mix, at Brohard Paw Park — a beach park where dogs are already allowed. “This is a dog-friendly community.”

Her friend Claire Gordon — who brought her dogs Bella, a Brittany, and Oliver, a cocker spaniel, to the same park — thinks the measure will benefit not just the dogs but their owners. Going to the park with their dogs becomes “a social event for the owners,” Gordon said.

For many of Venice's seniors, dogs may be their only companions, City Council member Emilio Carlesimo said.

That is why, as a liaison to the city's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, Carlesimo is urging the City Council to rewrite its laws pertaining to parks to specifically say where dogs are permitted.

The parks board recently discovered “discrepancies” in city laws about whether dogs are or are not prohibited in various parks, Carlesimo said. “It's unclear.”

So, Carlesimo and the parks board want the ordinances rewritten to allow dogs in specific parks.

In a memo to the City Council, parks board chairwoman Linda Kenfield wrote that the current laws are “unduly negative at a time when we desire to be perceived by visitors and potential new residents as welcoming.”

Under the proposal, except for dogs assisting the disabled, dogs would be banned at the beaches (except for Brohard Paw Park), parks with athletic fields (such as Wellfield Park) and parks such as Patriots Park (where monuments and ceremonies honor fallen military and others).

Dogs will be permitted in more than 20 other parks, mostly neighborhood venues such as West Blalock Park and Prentice French Park, as well as the marina and boat ramp (so vacationing boaters can walk their dogs).

In parks where dogs are allowed, the pets must be leashed and the owners would be required to remove their pets' waste.

Carlesimo said the city is not experiencing major problems with dog owners not picking up after their pets.

Lieberman is not surprised. “Most people who bring a dog to a park are responsible,” she said.

Having access to more parks will benefit the dogs as well, Lieberman said. “The dogs get lonely and get no exercise. They need to play with other dogs.”

Anthony and Michelle Williams, frequent visitors to Venice, brought Sunni, their Labrador, and Frazier, their terrier, to Brohard Paw Park on Monday.

When they travel, they search for dog-friendly venues.

As visitors, they, too, endorse the idea of allowing dogs in more public parks in the area.

“Our dogs are not allowed in our city parks,” Michelle Williams said, referring to the city of Canton, Ga. She thinks that is why she sees few people taking advantage of that city's parks.

<p><em>VENICE</em> - Many more of this city's parks and recreation areas, large and small, may soon be welcoming dogs. </p><p>And local and visiting pet owners, anxious to take their four-legged buddies for a walk in those parks, could not be happier.</p><p>The City Council today will consider a proposal to allow dogs in more than 20 designated public parks and recreation areas.</p><p>“We're all for it,” local resident Sue Lieberman said as she supervised Ryley, her boxer mix, at Brohard Paw Park — a beach park where dogs are already allowed. “This is a dog-friendly community.”</p><p>Her friend Claire Gordon — who brought her dogs Bella, a Brittany, and Oliver, a cocker spaniel, to the same park — thinks the measure will benefit not just the dogs but their owners. Going to the park with their dogs becomes “a social event for the owners,” Gordon said.</p><p>For many of Venice's seniors, dogs may be their only companions, City Council member Emilio Carlesimo said.</p><p>That is why, as a liaison to the city's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, Carlesimo is urging the City Council to rewrite its laws pertaining to parks to specifically say where dogs are permitted.</p><p>The parks board recently discovered “discrepancies” in city laws about whether dogs are or are not prohibited in various parks, Carlesimo said. “It's unclear.”</p><p>So, Carlesimo and the parks board want the ordinances rewritten to allow dogs in specific parks.</p><p>In a memo to the City Council, parks board chairwoman Linda Kenfield wrote that the current laws are “unduly negative at a time when we desire to be perceived by visitors and potential new residents as welcoming.”</p><p>Under the proposal, except for dogs assisting the disabled, dogs would be banned at the beaches (except for Brohard Paw Park), parks with athletic fields (such as Wellfield Park) and parks such as Patriots Park (where monuments and ceremonies honor fallen military and others).</p><p>Dogs will be permitted in more than 20 other parks, mostly neighborhood venues such as West Blalock Park and Prentice French Park, as well as the marina and boat ramp (so vacationing boaters can walk their dogs).</p><p>In parks where dogs are allowed, the pets must be leashed and the owners would be required to remove their pets' waste.</p><p>Carlesimo said the city is not experiencing major problems with dog owners not picking up after their pets.</p><p>Lieberman is not surprised. “Most people who bring a dog to a park are responsible,” she said.</p><p>Having access to more parks will benefit the dogs as well, Lieberman said. “The dogs get lonely and get no exercise. They need to play with other dogs.”</p><p>Anthony and Michelle Williams, frequent visitors to Venice, brought Sunni, their Labrador, and Frazier, their terrier, to Brohard Paw Park on Monday.</p><p>When they travel, they search for dog-friendly venues.</p><p>As visitors, they, too, endorse the idea of allowing dogs in more public parks in the area.</p><p>“Our dogs are not allowed in our city parks,” Michelle Williams said, referring to the city of Canton, Ga. She thinks that is why she sees few people taking advantage of that city's parks.</p><p><empty></p>